Clement
Frame Shop & Art Gallery is preserving area history, one
treasure at a time

By
Kathryn Geurin

Ninety-three-year-old
Edward Clement pulls two framed photos from behind his cluttered
desk at Clement Frame Shop & Art Gallery and holds them
proudly at arm’s length. One is an image of his original business,
Albany Camera Shop, from the 1960s. The second is a shot of
Clement propping up a fully framed king-sized quilt, taller
than he is, against the brick wall of the alley behind the
Albany business. His eyes shimmer as he appraises his monumental
work.

The nonagenarian still comes to work every day at the family
business, which has evolved over the years into a frame shop
and art gallery. He is quiet now, and hard of hearing, but
his sons Ray and Tom—both grown gray-haired themselves—piece
together their family story bit by bit, like a pane of stained
glass.

In the 1930s, Edward Clement founded the Rensselaer Astrophysical
Society at RPI, where the undergraduate student used to craft
his own telescope lenses to observe the cosmos. But he was
called into service during WWII, before he could finish his
degree.

The young veteran returned home needing to build a career,
and so struck out into the entrepreneurial world, opening
a camera shop. At the time, it was one of only three camera
shops in the Capital Region. “They used to run the film down
to the trains to New York City,” says Ray. “Once, Amelia Earhart
stopped in the shop, right Dad?” The eldest Clement nods broadly,
grinning ear to ear.

By the early ’60s, business was changing across the country,
as chain stores began supplanting family-run businesses. Ed
was feeling the pressure locally, and decided it was time
to expand the shop’s services to include custom framing. “In
the 1960s there weren’t trade magazines about framing, there
weren’t classes available,” says Tom. “You needed to learn
from a master, from someone who was doing it.”

So, at 14 and 15, Ray and Tom began apprenticing at Lewis
Frame Shop in Troy. “We absolutely worked our way up from
the bottom,” chuckles Ray. “First we learned to sweep the
floor. Eventually he taught us to cut mats, join frame.”

“We
were kids,” says Ray. “We weren’t giving any thought in terms
of the future. We had no idea this would become our career.”
But, gradually it did, and nearly 50 years later, the brothers
reflect on their lives’ work with extreme satisfaction.

“People
bring us the things they treasure the most,” says Ray. “We
get to know them through their art, their collections, their
family memorabilia. They brainstorm an impromptu list of treasures
that have passed through their doors: Pisarro drawings, the
oldest maps of the area from the New York State Archives,
an ancestor’s civil war sword, a telephone Nelson Rockefeller
ripped straight off the wall. “Our customers don’t just hand
us the items,” says Ray. “They tell us their stories. They
are entrusting us with very personal items, very valuable
items, irreplaceable items. They know we will properly care
for them, and that is really an honor.”

“There
are so many big box stores in the market now,” says Tom. “They
market huge savings all the time. But we’re not trying to
be the least expensive. We’re trying to be the best, guaranteed.
We feel strongly that we are competitive and that we do what
we do in the absolute best way we know how.”

“My
father is still sitting here at 93,” says Ray. “What better
guarantee can you get than that? You get to talk to the person
who will do the work, and you can be confident we’ll be there
to back it up, five years from now, 10 years from now.”

Artists in their own right, the framers all sign their work
when it’s completed. “It’s a pride thing,” says Ray. “We really
do take pride in our work.”

Today, the family has closed the photo shop in Albany to focus
on the Troy store, which has blossomed into a full-service
frame shop and art gallery.

Jon Gernon, who oversees the gallery aspect of the shop, is
the only non-Clement on staff. Still, Gernon seems to have
earned a place in the family after 15 years on board. “The
gallery goes hand-in-hand with the frame shop,” says Gernon,
an artist himself. “Rembrandt and Vermeer were both framers,”
he points out. “They were what you’d consider Sunday painters.”
The team works with an array of artists, mostly from within
a 100-mile radius of Troy, so promoting and showing their
work was a natural progression. The Clement Frame Shop &
Art Gallery presents two group shows a year and a solo show
every month, including recent shows by local favorites Harry
Orlyk, John Conners and Len Tantillo.

“Back
in the ’60s,” says Tom, “there were maybe three galleries
in the Capital District. But today the art scene is booming,
with art nights out and new galleries opening all the time.”

The shop maintains a collection of city directories spanning
generations, and a vast collection of antique postcards. They’ll
help you find your story, or print you a historic image of
a favorite building.

And, as though it was scripted, a woman walks into the shop.
“Hi,” she says, “you don’t know me, but you recently helped
my husband find a picture of West Hall. I wanted to thank
you.” The couple met when they worked together in the RPI
building, which began its legacy as Troy Hospital in 1869.

“I
hear West Hall is haunted,” whispers Ray. And the storytelling
begins.